Optical fibers have become a communication medium of choice for carrying information, in particular for long distance communication because of the excellent light transmission characteristics over long distances and the ability to fabricate optical fibers in lengths of many kilometers. The information being communicated includes video, audio or data. The ability to transmit data signals is utilized in applications where the optical fibers are used as sensors. These sensors can be used to detect physical or environmental conditions including pressure, temperature, position, vibration, acoustic waves, chemicals, current, electric field and strain, among other properties. The information obtained can be used in system control and calibration, and is conveyed by polarization, phase, frequency, wavelength and intensity modulation.
Optical sensors can replace conventional sensors, such as resistance gages, thermocouples and electric or electronic gauges, because optical sensors provide immunity to electromagnetic interference and leakage-to-ground problems. Optical sensors also eliminate inaccuracies associated with long, multiple, signal lead requirements, and enjoy compact size, light weight, high sensitivity and large scale multiplexing.
Known optical sensor geometries include Fabry-Perot, Bragg-grating, Mach-Zehnder, Michelson and Sagnac, among others. If all of the sensing occurs within the optical fiber, the optical sensor is an intrinsic fiber; therefore, the fiber acts as both a transmission medium and a sensing element. If the fiber does not act as a sensing element but merely acts as a transmission medium, the optical sensor is classified as an extrinsic sensor. In an extrinsic optical sensor, the optical fiber transmits the light source to an external medium, for example air, where the light is modulated to provide the desired sensing or detection. Optical sensors are also classified by the optical principle which they operate. Interferometric optical sensors utilize interference patterns between source light beams and reflected beams. Intensity based sensors measure the light lost from the optical fiber.
One type of optical sensor is the extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (“EFPI”). An EFPI utilizes two reflective surfaces and the difference or shift between a reference beam and a reflected beam directed through an optical fiber. This phase shift is used to determine or calculate the desired physical or environmental characteristic.
Optical sensors can be used in manufacturing, aerospace applications, civil engineering applications and medical applications. In the petroleum industry, for example, it is important from at least a safety and environmental standpoint to obtain accurate pressure information during, for example, the drilling of an oil well, because the drill bit may drill into a high pressure layer. Optical sensors are lowered into the oil wells during drilling and completion of oil wells to communicate pressure information from various depths within the wells.
Co-locating dual optical sensors have been discussed in the patent literature. For example, both U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,682,237 and 6,671,055 B1 disclose interferometric spectrum from etalons of reflected light portions from co-locating sensors. The disclosures of these references are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Such application has not extended into the petroleum industry due to the severe environment encountered downhole. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,970 B1 discloses an optical sensor for use in an oil and gas well that requires a complex pressure transducer to apply downhole pressure to either elongate or compress a fiber having a Bragg grating thereon.
Additionally, known EFPI sensors used in petroleum drilling only measure one parameter, e.g., either temperature or pressure. However, the temperature within an oil well increases with increasing depth, and optical sensors are susceptible to temperature changes. Failure to account for these temperature changes can lead to inaccurate pressure readings.
Therefore, the need exists for a suitable optical sensor that detects both pressure and temperature in wellbores to provide correction of pressure measurements based upon the measured temperature.